


Human Shield

by shepardly



Series: Nora ‘n MacCready [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fill, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 03:16:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20959559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shepardly/pseuds/shepardly
Summary: Just two mercs making their way in the Commonwealth. One of which has terrible luck and the other tends to act before he thinks.





	Human Shield

***

MacCready awoke all at once, but didn’t move right away. He was in the same position he had fallen asleep in, where he’d crawled on top of the sleeping bag after his watch during the night, curled up a bit on his right side with his rifle - safety on - cradled in his arms. Warm sunlight was creeping across the floor through the open door and windows in the ramshackle shed they had camped out in for the night, and if his shoulder and hip weren’t aching where he rested on the sleeping bag on the floor he would have been content to rest for a while longer.

As it was, he wasn’t comfortable anymore and knew he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep. MacCready pushed himself up with a faint groan and sat cross legged on the floor for a moment, collecting his bearings as he surveyed his surroundings.

He could see the fire pit just outside the door from where he was sitting, flames flickering low and coals glowing hot with a pot warming on the stones beside it. Nora had made breakfast already, and he had somehow slept through it; he must have been more tired than he thought, but he still chastised himself for it. He pushed himself up with a yawn and went out to help himself to the razor grain porridge, looking around for his mercenary traveling companion but not seeing any sign of her. However, judging from the faint drumming noise and idle humming, she was somewhere nearby.

When he had finished eating, cleaning up, and packing, MacCready went looking for her and found her sitting on the roof, looking out over the Commonwealth with her pack beside her and a purified water in her hand as she let her heels gently kick against the building, the source of the drumming noise he had picked up earlier.

“How’s the view up there?” MacCready called up.

“Well,” Nora started, shielding her eyes and looking north, “everything is brown and dead that way and,” she turned to look south, “ah yes, brown and dead that way too.”

“Another day in paradise.”

“That it is. I suppose it is beautiful in its own nuclear fallout kind of way.” Nora mused. “I mean, it looks dead, but I know if we go over that hill we’ll probably run into a super mutant nest or a deathclaw or at least bloatflies or something. Life finds a way, and all that.”

MacCready couldn’t help the smirk at her terrible and not-funny-at-all jokes, hoping she wasn’t right. They didn’t need that kind of trouble first thing in the morning.

“You have breakfast?” Nora asked.

“Yep. All packed and ready to go, too.”

“I knew I liked you for a reason.” She took a deep breath as she slapped her hands on her thighs, preparing to rise, and suddenly dissolved into a fit of coughing as she clapped her hands over her mouth and nose.

“You trying to take up smoking again?” MacCready called up, wondering if he should find the ladder up to thump her on the back. “Don’t you remember the last time? Thought I’d have to give you mouth-to-mouth.”

“Gah- no-!” She wheezed between coughs, her eyes actually watering, “that smell!”

MacCready sniffed the air, and caught a whiff of what she was talking about. “Ah, yeah, I forgot. There’s a dead mirelurk near the pond up top. Wind must have changed for us to be able to smell it down here now.”

“Lovely.” She coughed again and got to her feet, grabbing her pack before moving towards the ladder. “On that note, let’s get the hell out of here before that smell kills me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bury you if it does. I’ll even make a cross and write something nice. Something like,” He cleared his throat and put on an affected tone, “_‘Here lies Nora, killed a Courser but was off-ed by a dead mirelurk’._”

She had joined him by the time he finished, and smacked him on the arm without any heat behind it. “Har-dee-har, you’re a regular comedian. Let’s go.”

They started out slow as Nora checked her PipBoy, but it wasn’t long before they had fallen into their mile-eating gait, still heading south-east towards the swampy parts of the Commonwealth. MacCready hated the area, full of Gunners and the potential for damp socks, but he had already voiced his complaints enough and stayed silent as he followed, watching their six.

It was mid-morning when the back of his neck prickled, and he gave a short, sharp whistle to grab Nora’s attention.

“We’re not alone.” He hissed, rifle ready as he slowly turned on his heel, looking for whoever or whatever was watching them. Nora reacted instantly, checking her PipBoy’s HUD, and whipped around to her left as she grabbed her pistol from her holster.

“I can’t see ‘em.” Nora whispered back, scanning the rocky hillside, “do you have-”

Something huge exploded out of the ground practically under her feet, sending her staggering back. He barely had time to recognize the thing as a radscorpion before she let out a yelp of pain, making his blood run cold, but it had only clamped a large claw around her lower leg and yanked her off her feet, dumping her on her backside and sending her pistol tumbling. He was already emptying his rifle into the thing, unable to get a good shot at its face as it was too close to her, but at least sinking round after round into its tail and torso to distract it as he ran towards them, even as it raised its stinger threateningly over her.

Nora had raised a hand uselessly over her head, cringing away from the stinger, dazed and resigned to the inevitable. The stinger was already coming down when MacCready threw himself over her, and the two impacts, one after the other lightning-quick, knocked the wind out of him hard enough to force a grunt from him.

The pain didn’t hit right away. MacCready numbly watched the radscorpion back off a ways, shaking itself and swiping its claws over where he had shot it, and he tried to move, roll over to sit up, but his body had decided to go on strike, leaving him twitching uselessly, sprawled over Nora. He felt her shifting under his back, then she was sitting up, letting him slide down so he was draped over her lap as she fired her shotgun repeatedly into the creature’s face.

The radscorpion squealed and chattered in rage, then in fear, but she didn’t let up until the shotgun was empty. He was pretty sure it had been dead a couple shots earlier, but she looked grim as she went for her dropped pistol and trained it on the twitching corpse, then waited, looking for signs of life.

“Th-think you got it.” MacCready rasped, then grimaced at the two burning spots of agony, one in his shoulder near his neck and the other in his bicep. Nora dropped her gun and pawed at him, fingers pressing roughly against the pulse point in his throat as she pulled his head up to cradle against her. He tried to suck in a lungful of air, which ended up being a painful, shuddering wheeze.

“RJ,” Nora sounded strained. “Are there antidotes for the venom of those things? What do people do when they get stung?”

“Aren’t- aren’t you the m-medic here?” His throat was tight with pain.

“Scorpions used to be _tiny_, MacCready! They stung like hell if they got you but typically around here adults didn’t have to worry about treatment other than cleaning it and watching for allergic reactions.” Nora was clearly stressed out, but still handling it well. “I need any information you can give me, I’m out of my league here!”

“I don’t— I don’t know. Been— been a while— since I seen anyone get stung.” He didn’t mention that the last time he had seen someone attacked by a radscorpion, it had been a Gunner that didn’t survive the attack. Breathing was getting _really_ difficult now, each breath wheezing in and out. Nora hauled him up even higher against her. He could feel his hands clawing at the dirt and his boot skidded across the ground as he helplessly writhed, but it was all background to his terrifying battle for enough air.

“Oh _shit_, okay, just try to relax, just hang on,” Nora was doing something behind him while still holding him propped up, and he heard the clank of her bag hitting the ground and rustling once the flap flipped open. He tried to do as she said, tried to calm his racing heart, but he was _scared._ He couldn’t die here, not now, not with Duncan waiting for him back home. Just as his vision started tunneling, something cold pressed against his neck and he heard a faint hiss before the tightness in his throat and chest loosened a bit. He sucked down a deeper breath and then another, blinking rapidly as his vision cleared. The sound of his harsh breathing finally reached his ears and he grimaced.

“That’s it, that’s good, keep breathing. It’s okay.” Nora was saying, rubbing a comforting hand on his chest. He didn’t know how long she had been talking, but had the sense that he had missed some of it.

“Ugh,” MacCready was eventually able to say, and tried to sit up. Nora helped him up before shifting to crouch beside him, keeping a worried hand on his shoulder. He looked down at himself, trying to figure out how he had missed having his shirt and duster unbuttoned and half-peeled off one arm. 

“How you feeling?” She asked, handing over a can of purified water.

“Never better.” MacCready rasped, gratefully taking the can and downing half of it in one long draw.

“Good.” Nora said calmly, then exploded, “What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!”

“Still here, aren’t I?” MacCready responded testily, not entirely sure of the answer himself. But he was surprised when she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around him, setting her chin on top of his head with a heavy sigh. After a moment, he threaded his good arm around her and patted her back awkwardly.

“Yeah. You are.” She finally said. “Still, you scared me. Don’t be jumping in front of stuff on my account, alright? You’ll damage my fragile ego.”

MacCready snorted at that. “Alright, Dr ‘I Have An Actual Medical License So Get Out Of My Way’.”

“He had it coming. That had nothing to do with ego.” Nora said absently, chin still resting on the top of his head while her fingers carded through his hair. “Do you need another Stimpack? The swelling isn’t completely gone yet.”

MacCready craned his neck to look down at the sting on his arm, unable to quite see the one near his neck. The movement was enough to make him wince, which apparently took the choice out of his hands as she applied another Stimpack to his shoulder.

“Thanks.” MacCready sighed in relief as the throbbing subsided, then faded altogether. 

“You’re welcome.” Nora neatly tucked the empty syringes she had used away. “Never do it again.”

“You pay me too well,” MacCready started pulling his sleeve up and buttoning his duster again, “I gotta protect my income somehow.”

Nora rolled her eyes. “I’ll try not to put you out of work that doesn’t involve using yourself as a meat shield.”

“Appreciated.” MacCready grimaced at the state of the arm of his shirt, torn by the violence of the attack. “Ugh. Let’s just get out of here.”

“I won’t argue with that.” Nora got to her feet and offered him a hand up. “Let’s go find somewhere to camp for the night.”

MacCready picked his rifle up and squinted at the sky where the sun still hung directly overhead before shooting her a quizzical look.

“I’m tired.” Nora said lamely, and MacCready understood. He would be fine to go on, but if he looked anything like he was still feeling, it’d be pretty rough. 

“Thanks, boss.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nora said with a flick of her head and lead the way.

MacCready shook his head, feeling the corner of his mouth crook up, and followed. “Whatever you say, boss.”

***

**Author's Note:**

> Me starting to post my whumptober2019 prompt fills in September: i am doing this now because i know me and i will forget to do it on the actual days and then i will never post them BUT also i'm going to post at least some on time in October :)
> 
> Me looking at my calendar today: dammit


End file.
